Here we are commemorating another Memorial Day. The United States of
America, the bastion of world democracy, takes time every year to render
tribute to the men and women that have given the ultimate sacrifice to
maintain the freedom and rights we all dearly cherish. On this, the
ultimate date of remembrance of its fallen heroes, we in the Cuban
American community, a community that has become an integral part of the
American tapestry, stand and salute the fallen and wounded in defending
that they hold so dear.
The United States of America, my country of birth which I cherish and
would stand ready to defend, has for years held an embargo against the
country of my ancestors and the land which I too consider to be home...
Cuba. This embargo has helped keep the Castrist government, a
dictatorship of the most vile nature, from proliferating throughout this
hemisphere at a greater rate than if we had no embargo at all. But is
it enough?
There are some that look towards the U.S. as the means for the
liberation of our island nation, but in reality many of us in the Cuban
American community know that the freedom of our country falls to us to
achieve. Yet we are shackled by an agreement between this country and
the now defunct Soviet Union. An agreement signed by the Kennedy
Administration that obligates them to intercede in the fight for the
liberation of the very nation they enforce an embargo against.
Our freedom fighters are intercepted, our anti-castrist organizations
are foiled at every turn in their fight for the freedom of our native
soil. We are constantly subject to arrests and interdiction for simply
wanting to, in our way, give the people of the island nation that lies a
mere 90 miles away the same rights and freedoms they, the U.S.
themselves enjoy.
Why does the United States still enforce an agreement with a nation that
no longer exists? Why are our brave and selfless fighters, that very
well resemble those that we honor on this day, treated like criminals
for wanting to do the exact same thing that today's honorees have
done.... fight for the freedom of their country?
Many liberals in Congress want to re-evaluate this country's commitment
to the embargo. They would like an end to, what they consider, an
outdated notion. I submit that they should be considering ending an
outdated treaty with a non-existent country that has tied the hands of
the Cuban American community for the past 4 decades.
Call and write your legislators and representatives and ask them to do
away with a treaty that keeps the Castrist dictatorship, a dictatorship
dedicated to the downfall of this very country, in power. Lets put an
end to a treaty signed with a country that fell over a decade ago, yet
continues to dictate U.S. foreign policy.
We are not asking for American lives to be put on the line. We are not
asking for money to fund our freedom. We are not asking for Uncle Sam
to intercede in what are clearly Cuban natioanl affairs.
What we are seeking is the freedom to fight for the liberty of our
bretheren on the island. What we are asking is for the same opportunity
that the founding fathers of this nation had to seek their freedom from
thier English overlords. What we are asking is to allow the Cubans that
are on U.S. soil to participate in shaping the future of their own
country.
Food for thought on this Memorial Day.
Jose "Alex" Ybarra
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